Figure 1.--.

Cooperation between Germany and Japan intensified after the NAZIs seized power (1933). Heinkel played a major role in debeloping the Val dive bomber so effectively employed at Paerl Harbor. It was based on the Heinkel 70 bomber. The Germans help Kawasaki build submarines for the Imperial Navy. The Japane defeat by the Soviets in the Machrian border war (1939) should have convinced military planners that Japan was not in a position to wage a war with a modern European army. The Japanese do not appear to have drawn this conclusion. Japan joined the Axis (September 1940). At this time we do not have any details concerning immediate Japanese steps to obtain German technology. Most Japanese senior commanders were convinced that the country's warrior spirit and code of Bushido would bring victory. Some officers saw the need to acquire modern technology. One of these was Tomoyuki Yamashita. Yamashita was familiar with Germany having served as a military attaché there after World War I (1919-22). Yamashita rose in the military hierarchy. He participated in the unsuccessful military coup (1936), but was not punished. He fought in the Manchrian border war against the Soviets (1939). After Primemister Fumimaro Kondoye appointed Hideki Tojo Minister of War, Yamashita was dipatched to Europe. He arrived in Germany with a shopping list for modern military technology. When he returned to Japan, he strongly advised against going to war with the United States or the Soviet Union until Japan had modernized its military. We have few details on German provision of military technology to Japan at this stahe of the War. We do know that the Germans helped the Japanese build the Hind fighter which was based on the ME-109. The Germans insisted on substantial payments on the basis of commercial exchanges. It is unclear to us how aggressively the Japanes pushed or the Germans offerred their technology. We do know that despite very effective German naval radar such as the equipment on the Bismarck, Japan entered the War in the Pcific without naval radar. We do not fully understand if this was because the Japanese did not appreciate the importance or the Germans were unwilling to share the technology. Radar was of course a critical technology for carrier warfare. This did not change until late in the War. Germany in 1945 began sending the Japanese information on some of their weapons such a jet aircraft. The full extent of the provision of high technology weapons to the Japanese is not known. . The NAZIs insisted on lisensing agreements. The transfers were mase by U-boat. There were shipments of uranium, but the weapons blanned are not fully understood.

Technology

Cooperation between Germany and Japan intensified after the NAZIs seized power (1933). Heinkel played a major role in debeloping the Val dive bomber so effectively employed at Paerl Harbor. It was based on the Heinkel 70 bomber. The Germans help Kawasaki build submarines for the Imperial Navy. The Japane defeat by the Soviets in the Machrian border war (1939) should have convinced military planners that Japan was not in a position to wage a war with a modern European army. The Japanese do not appear to have drawn this conclusion. Japan joined the Axis (September 1940). At this time we do not have any details concerning immediate Japanese steps to obtain German technology. Most Japanese senior commanders were convinced that the country's warrior spirit and code of Bushido would bring victory. Some officers saw the need to acquire modern technology. One of these was Tomoyuki Yamashita. Yamashita was familiar with Germany having served as a military attaché there after World War I (1919-22). Yamashita rose in the military hierarchy. He participated in the unsuccessful military coup (1936), but was not punished. He fought in the Manchrian border war against the Soviets (1939). After Primemister Fumimaro Kondoye appointed Hideki Tojo Minister of War, Yamashita was dipatched to Europe. He arrived in Germany with a shopping list for modern military technology. When he returned to Japan, he strongly advised against going to war with the United States or the Soviet Union until Japan had modernized its military. We have few details on German provision of military technology to Japan at this stage of the War. We do know that the Germans helped the Japanese build the Hind fighter which was based on the ME-109. The Germans insisted on substantial payments on the basis of commercial exchanges. It is unclear to us how aggressively the Japanes pushed or the Germans offerred their technology. We do know that despite very effective German naval radar such as the equipment on the Bismarck, Japan entered the War in the Pcific without naval radar. We do not fully understand if this was because the Japanese did not appreciate the importance or the Germans were unwilling to share the technology. Radar was of course a critical technology for carrier warfare. This did not change until late in the War. Germany in 1945 began sending the Japanese information on some of their weapons such a jet aircraft. The full extent of the provision of high technology weapons to the Japanese is not known. . The NAZIs insisted on lisensing agreements. There were shipments of uranium, but the weapons blanned are not fully understood.

Material

There were also material exchanges. The transfer of technology was a one way flow, from Germany to Japan. Raw mnaterials were a different matter. The Japanese after seizing Southeast Asia had many raw materials that the Germans wanted, including oil, rubber, and tin. And the Germans had material the Japanese wanted, often refined msterial like metalic mercury. The problem was that the Japanese had no way of getting material to the Germans in quantity because of Allied maval power. Even after the peak of the Japanese accendency in the Pacific (early 1942), the Allies still controlled the Atalantic. Rubber was a particular problen for the Germans because nio rubber was produced in German controlled areas. The Gernans were dependant in synthetic rubber.

Transport

One interesting topic is the efforts made by the German and Japanese to transport material. This varied over time. Before the War, the two countries were free to trade without impediment. The Germans did send military equiopment. The Japanese had little to offer the Germans and as a result commonly paid for the equioment or tecghnology purchased. This changed after Hitler launched World War II (September 1939). Britain and France instituted a naval blockade. This essentially bottled up German frighters in the Baltic. The fall of France and the Italian entry into the War provided both Atlantic and Mediterranean ports Germans could use. This and the weakness of the Royal Navy meant that German blockade runners had some chance of success. This also eased the problem for Japanese merchant vessels. Japan was still neutral and the British wanted to avoid incidents that might give the Japanese an excuse for war. Some excganges were possible over the Soviet Trahns-Siberian Railway. And even after Barbaross (June 1941), German long-range aircraft could reach Japan from forward bases. This of course changed with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and British possessions. Surface blockade runners contuinued to run the blockade, but were gradually shut down. This left only the possibility of submarine runs. Bulky raw material was no longer feasible, but German high tech weapons could be transported. The Japanese sent gold in their submarines to help pay the Germans for the ctechnology aquired. As Allied anti-submarine warfare capabikities increased, even submarine trips became dangerous.

Created: 3:52 AM 4/7/2011
Last updated: 3:52 AM 4/7/2011